No More Wrappers: The cppmode Feature in JetPascal 0.2.0+

[jarroddavis68]

This example demonstrates how to create a basic window using raylib with JetPascal™. It showcases the C++ interop features including cppmode, header, and link directives, as well as the while loop statement.

Example Code

program Test;

cppmode on;            // Enables C++ passthrough mode - unknown identifiers are passed directly to C++

header '"raylib.h"';   // Include the raylib C++ header file

link 'libraylib.a';    // Link the raylib static library
link 'gdi32';          // Windows GDI (graphics)
link 'opengl32';       // OpenGL graphics
link 'winmm';          // Windows multimedia

begin
  InitWindow(800, 450, "raylib [core] example - basic window");
  
  SetTargetFPS(60);
  
  while not WindowShouldClose() do
  begin
    BeginDrawing();
      ClearBackground(RAYWHITE);
      DrawText("Congrats! You created your first window!", 190, 200, 20, LIGHTGRAY);
    EndDrawing();
  end;
  
  CloseWindow();  
end.

Features Demonstrated

1. C++ Interop Mode

cppmode on;

Enables C++ passthrough mode, allowing direct use of C++ libraries and functions without wrapper declarations.

2. Header Inclusion

header '"raylib.h"';

Includes the raylib C++ header file. Note the double quotes inside single quotes - this passes the quotes through to C++.

3. Library Linking

link 'libraylib.a';   // Raylib library
link 'gdi32';         // Windows GDI (graphics)
link 'opengl32';      // OpenGL graphics
link 'winmm';         // Windows multimedia

Links the necessary libraries. JetPascal automatically handles the linking through the Zig build system.

4. While Loop

while not WindowShouldClose() do
begin
  // Game loop code
end;

Standard Pascal while...do syntax. The loop continues until the window close button is pressed.

5. Direct C++ Function Calls

All raylib functions are called directly:

• InitWindow() - Creates the window
• SetTargetFPS() - Sets the target frames per second
• WindowShouldClose() - Checks if user wants to close
• BeginDrawing() / EndDrawing() - Frame drawing boundaries
• ClearBackground() - Clears the screen with a color
• DrawText() - Renders text to screen
• CloseWindow() - Cleanup and close window

Expected Output

A 800x450 pixel window will open displaying the text "Congrats! You created your first window!" The window runs at 60 FPS and can be closed by clicking the close button or pressing ESC.

Technical Notes

Generated C++ Code

JetPascal transpiles this to clean C++ code:

while (!WindowShouldClose())
{
  BeginDrawing();
  ClearBackground(RAYWHITE);
  DrawText("Congrats! You created your first window!", 190, 200, 20, LIGHTGRAY);
  EndDrawing();
}

Performance

Since JetPascal compiles to native C++ (via Zig/Clang), performance is identical to hand-written C++ code. There is zero runtime overhead.

Cross-Platform

This code works on Windows, Linux, and macOS when raylib is properly installed for the target platform.

Requirements

• JetPascal™ compiler
• Raylib library (included in res\libs\raylib\)
• Windows: GDI32, OpenGL32, WinMM system libraries (standard)
• Linux: OpenGL, ALSA libraries
• macOS: Cocoa, OpenGL frameworks

[soinalastudio]

Very interesting

[jarroddavis68]

Thanks! I’ve been working hard on this. The project was born out of my frustration with not being able to fully tap into the C/C++ ecosystem from Pascal. And, as devs do, I decided to tackle the problem head-on. Four months later, deep, deep down the compiler-development rabbit hole, here we are.

[soinalastudio]

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…

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